• Proposed Manor House Expansion Draws Large Crowd

    Many differing views on effect of change in town center By Susan MacEachron Norfolk residents filled the Botelle School Hall of Flags on a very cold evening on Tuesday, Jan. 14, to attend the Planning & Zoning (P&Z) public hearing regarding a modification to the special permit granted in 1996 to the property known as […]

  • From All Angels

    Throughout the month of February, Garet&Co will be returning to Norfolk to present their third annual performance in the Battell Chapel, where each piece will be set in the round.  In this presentation, titled “From All Angles”, the audience will witness the translation of three of the works presented at their fall show.   “Can’t Keep […]

  • Norfolk Then

    Pictured here is the house built in 1898 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spofford as their summer home. The son of Ainsworth Spofford, Librarian of Congress, Charles Spofford was an electrical engineer, who would be hired in 1902 to manage London’s underground railway system, converting it from steam to electricity. The Spoffords engaged the architect […]

  • Sweets on the Green

    A Decade of Decadent Desserts By Andra Moss How is your naughty versus nice rating? Those needing to influence Santa with an especially impressive treat should grab their stockings and head to the Norfolk Historical Society (NHS) for the 10th Annual Cake Auction on Saturday, Dec. 7.     Now a Norfolk holiday tradition, the event was […]

  • Artist Tom Burr Brings His Torrington Project to an End

    Performances celebrate studio closing By Stephen Melville Norfolk resident and artist Tom Burr organized a day of performances and exhibition at his studio in Torrington on Oct. 26, marking an end to what he has called “The Torrington Project.” For the past three and a half years, Burr has rented a vast—15,000 square foot—former industrial […]

  • New Meanings for a Monument

    Light Shines on the Memorial Green By Joe Kelly On Monday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day, a crowd of about 100 gathered for the rededication of Norfolk’s World War 1 memorial, artfully restored under the auspices of the Norfolk Community Association. It was sunny. Temperatures in the low ‘60’s. Another day of no rain. Everyone talked […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1920s postcard shows Memorial Green just after the War Memorial, designed by Alfredo Taylor, was built. It was Taylor’s wife Minna who first proposed that a memorial “heroes grove” be planted on the small lot of land known as the Triangle opposite the Catholic Church. The lot had been left empty with the demolition […]

  • Restored war memorial to be celebrated on veterans day

    plaque now honors all who served By Patricia Platt A World War I monument, designed by Alfredo Taylor and erected on Norfolk’s Memorial Green in 1921, bears the inscription, “for those who gave and those who offered their lives for liberty, the people of Norfolk have built this monument and crowned it with the Liberty […]

  • NLT Tail Ablaze with Runners

    More than 120 runners enjoyed perfect fall weather as they wound their way through picturesque Barbour Woods in the 11th Annual Norfolk Land Trust Trail Race. Some chose to add a challenging loop over Haystack Mountain, while the half-marathoners just kept moving on up—topping out at over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. *photo by June […]

  • Can you spot the Real Curler?

    There was movie magic ice to be made, and the pros of the Norfolk Curling Club were the first to get the call. In October, NCC’s Jon Barbagallo, Lou Barbagallo, Rachel Barbagallo, Mark Walsh, Harvey Chalmers and Phill West were hired by a production company to make curling ice at a Rhode Island hockey rink […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1917 photograph is a timely reminder of the long struggle fought by many dedicated women for basic civil liberties, including the right to own property, hold public office, sit on juries, participate in public assemblies and vote. The group of 25 suffragists—20 women and five men—gathered on the porch following their meeting with Congressman […]

  • The chicken who wanted to be a star and other tales from a norfolk movie set

    By Andra Moss Secrets and small towns don’t often pair well, and Norfolk is a small town. Yet, for eight weeks this summer, a crew of nearly 100 people quietly transformed Tim and Paula Webster’s 1908 Norfolk farmhouse into a film set for a feature-length production, all the while staying under the local radar.  It […]

Articles

Fresh Crop of EMR’s Joins Norfolk Ambulance

  By Wiley Wood The sign next to the ambulance building on Route 44 reads “Volunteers Needed.” And this winter, the Norfolk Lions Club Ambulance got a fresh influx of volunteers. Eleven people took the latest Emergency Medical Responder’s course, and seven of the newly minted EMR’s are expected to join the ambulance, according to […]

Looking at Fixes for the Regional Economy

Conference brings resource providers and town representatives together   By Stephen Melville We were, Jocelyn Ayer explained as she opened the Northwest Connecticut Development Summit 2016, going to be speed-dating. Seated at tables that ran down both sides of the White Barn at South Farms in Morris, we were more than a hundred selectmen, local […]

Local Youth Group Hosts Conversation on Access to Healthy Foods

State legislators join in voicing concern   By Julie Scharnberg The Norfolk Church of Christ Youth Group is determined to do something about food insecurity and food deserts. On the afternoon of January 31, 2016, the youth group hosted a community conversation at Battell Chapel to gather ideas. Special guests included State Representative Roberta Willis […]

After Paris and Sandisfield, a Novelist Comes to Norfolk

    By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo “It’s like living on a campus,” novelist Courtney Maum says of her new house on the village green. “With the church bells ringing… and being able to walk to the library… it’s pretty great.” The library, and the hidden wet bar in their new home, actually were the greatest […]

Norfolk’s Schoolchildren Learn to Curl

  The school bus pulls up, seven schoolchildren pour out, huddle briefly with their coach, David Beers, in the foyer of the Norfolk Curling Club, then fan out over the ice, broom in hand, gliding over the pebbled surface of the curling sheets. This is the Norfolk After School Program in action. The curling class, […]

A Playful Presence in the Woods

The North American River Otter   By Wiley Wood The tracks look dog-like, big pugmarks in the snow coming up from the lake, crossing the ski trail and climbing the bank on the far side. But the coyote, if it is one, is dragging something heavy in its mouth, making a long, shallow dent in […]

EDC Works Behind the Scenes to Restart Corner Store

Operator backs out at the eleventh hour   By Wiley Wood It seemed like a natural. The Corner Store in Norfolk had stood empty for years. Cornwall, a few towns over, had a thriving country store with a genial and energetic owner, but after operating for two years at the intersection of Route 7 and […]

Norfolk Festival Director Will Step Down After 2016 Season

Melvin Chen named new director   By Wiley Wood Paul Hawkshaw, the Yale School of Music professor who has served as director of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and the Yale Summer School of Music for more than a decade, has confirmed that he will step down after the festival’s 2016 season. Familiar to concertgoers […]

Norfolk’s Year-End Weather and a 2015 Summary

  Unusual Weather to Finish the Year   By Russell Russ The closing months of 2015 brought warm weather and below-average amounts of rain and snow. While unusual for Norfolk, but it seemed a fitting end to a strange weather year. Numerous months throughout the year ranked high in several categories. Warm temperatures, rainfall deficits […]

Julie Scharnberg Is Grants and Program Director of the Community Foundation

Assisting Nonprofits and People in Need   By Colleen Gundlach The Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut (CFNC) was founded in 1969 by a small group of citizens in Torrington with $15,000 and plans to promote public giving. Today it has assets in excess of $87 million and endows 101 scholarships and more than 350 grants […]

Republicans and Democrats Caucus to Select Town Committees

By Ruth Melville   In an election year, most Americans are familiar with state and presidential caucuses, which are heavily publicized, much anticipated and often divisive national events. But on January 9 a similar democratic process—if on a much smaller scale—took place in Norfolk’s Town Hall. On that night the town’s Republicans and Democrats met […]

A New Foundation Aims at Downtown Hub

  By Janet G. Mead “Our dream is to make Norfolk the vibrant place we all would like it to be,” said Samuel (Pete) Anderson, president of the newly established Norfolk Foundation. “We want to make Norfolk a center for art and natural recreation.” To work toward this goal, Anderson and three other founding board […]